It's hard not to view Leblon's micro-site dedicated to the "Five-Second Caipirinha" in light of Brazil's federal caipirinha guidelines. Nevertheless, I'm sure these recipes are tasty.
Update 2008-11-04: I just made one. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Natalie "The Liquid Muse" Bovis-Nelsen writes:
Needless to say, when Cabana Cachaca invited me to sample cocktails by Alex Straus – L.A. barman extraordinaire – paired with Latin-inspired delicacies designed by Executive Chef Todd English at Beso, co-owned with “Desperate Housewives” Eva Longoria Parker and one of the hottest hotspots in the ‘Hollyhood,’ I was excited!
She shares some interesting recipes by Alex Straus. Here's one, the serrano caipirinha:
Serrano Caipirinha
- 2 oz. Cabana Cachaca
- 4 lime wedges
- 3/4 oz. simple syrup
- 3 slices Serrano chili
Muddle, serve on the rocks.
For the rest, including photos, check out her post.
Food blogger Layla has a great recipe with plenty of photographic goodness:
Pineapple Caipirinha
Ingredients
Infused cachaça
- 1 bottle of cachaça
- 1 whole pineapple, peeled* and sliced
Pineapple caipirinha - quantities are for 1 drink
- 2 oz pineapple infused cachaça
- 1/2 lime, cut in small chunks
- 2 tbs freshly crushed pineapple
- 1 tbs sugar
- Crushed ice
Preparation
- To make the pineapple infused cachaça place the pineapple slices in a large container, pour the cachaça over the pineapple slices, close tightly and let it rest in a dark cool place for a few days – but no longer than a week.
- Use a muddler to crush and mix the limes and sugar in a cocktail shaker.
- Add the cachaça, crushed pineapple and ice, mix well and serve immediately.
She also points out that you can keep the pineapple peels for making chicha de piña, a spiced pineapple punch.
Similar to Webtender's featured cocktail earlier in the week, Intoxicologist picked up on a number of Leblon's autumn recipes.
What struck me in particular was this punch recipe, which strikes me as an interesting (not to mention potent) alternative to hot mulled wine.
Leblon Punch Caipirinha
- 1-750ml Bottle of Leblon Cachaça
- 1/2 Bottle Brandy
- 1/4 Bottle Cointreau
- 1/4 Bottle Amaretto
- 3 Bottles Medium Body Red Wine
- 1 large Bottle of Soda Water
- 1/2 cup of Fine White Sugar
- 3 Oranges-sliced
- 20 Cherries – pitted
- 3 Apples – chopped
- 10 Cinnamon sticks
- 8 Cloves
- 10 Star Anise
Combine all ingredients except the soda water into a punch bowl. Let stand for two hours. Just before serving add soda water. Serve over ice in a wine glass.
Also... Here's a cachaça-based punch recipe that uses Gewurztraminer.
Keeping with the idea of exploring cachaça's potential in the colder months, here's something I found on The Webtender:
It's hard not to view Leblon's micro-site dedicated to the "Five-Second Caipirinha" in light of Brazil's federal caipirinha guidelines. Nevertheless, I'm sure these recipes are tasty.
Update 2008-11-04: I just made one. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Having solved every other problem, Brazil's government passed a resolution on Friday that puts federal guidelines behind its national cocktail, the caipirinha.
From the Associated Press by way of NowPublic:
So how do you make Brazil's national cocktail?
Maybe you'd better call a lawyer.
Brazil's government has published legal guidelines insisting that a caipirinha must be made just so: It's mostly the sugarcane liquor called cachaca. And you can add at least 1 percent crushed lime. But that had better be real sugar in the glass.
The Agriculture Ministry rules published in Friday's official gazette are meant to set "standards of identity and quality" for the drink.
The ministry has failed to say what punishment awaits those responsible for illicit caipirinhas.
This, of course, should not be confused with the real necessity of having laws around the definition of "cachaça".
Update: Adam Lee of Eyes On Brazil got a hold of the actual published rules (in Portuguese).
Yes, it helps me rationalize the time I put into this site when I can claim that cachaça matters on the world stage.
The interesting part: Cachaça's stateside recognition as exclusively Brazilian is not in question. The matter at hand: Does bourbon deserve be similarly recognized as exclusively American?
Variety has a brief, mostly positive review of the award-winning documentary Estrada Real da Cachaça ("The Royal Road of Cachaça").
See my earlier post for a six-minute preview.
Naren Young — you may know him from Leblon's Naren & Jacob vids — offers up five new cocktails, complete with food pairings.
And with only four-and-a-half hours left in the weekend. Drat.
Sagatiba appears to be doing a particularly good job of developing and sharing cachaça-based cocktails for the Fall season, something I mentioned in the most recent State of the Spirit post. Enjoy!
Autumn Breeze
Saga 7
Bikini Martini